Live from the nest

Here is a dull but really great nonetheless first blog post. Erin and I will be blogging it up here from now on for the rest of our year here in Harlem. As we speak, Erin is taking her GRE, for which she has been studying her entire life (or really the last 3 months or so). When she gets home we will celebrate by drinking some JD and doing some other fun stuff (like speak nostalgically about our studious days, organize our nooks, and maybe call some friends). It is a chilly day, our patio is getting rained on, and I am staying warm with the help of a space heater. I am figuring out the best way to organize my stuff under the loft bed so that our new futon will best fit in there. We are very happy in our lives here. We have delicious baked goods most of the time, a fridge stocked with core quesadilla-making essentials, beer, books, and really, what else would we need?
Well, for one thing, we have come to need several fans to turn on while making anything in the oven to combat our hyper-sensitive smoke detector, which takes us back to our old Paris-Borden fire drill days. We also enjoy the company of a large mouse/small rat, who makes himself scarce until bed time. There are times when I think he is gone and then occasionally there is a little rustle and we know he is still around. For this we will need to get a cat, and for that we have a cat jar-- which will fill up with enough loose change to support our mouse-chasing friend. There is still much decorating to do, but I think our home is pretty complete.
We get by.
I work part-time at American Eagle, among other random things that come my way, and Erin works at American Apparel full-time. We have free laundry in our building and our energy bill is included in our rent, so our living is by no means very pricey. Fighting the temptation to buy things in New York City is the tough part. To do that, I tend to sequester myself in our apartment when I'm not working. Erin practices very good restraint.

I will have to figure out a good way to wrap things up for next time. For now, it is peace out from the swan nest.
Love,
Mamie